Pasadena High's Bayley Neubauer is heading to New Orleans

Pasadena High girls' volleyball

Pasadena High 6-foot-4 senior middle blocker Bayley Neubauer signed her national letter of intent with the University of New Orleans, an independent Division I program, on Wednesday afternoon on the campus of Pasadena High. (Courtesy of Bayley Neubauer)

Pasadena High 6-foot-4 senior middle blocker Bayley Neubauer signed her national letter of intent with the University of New Orleans, an independent Division I program, on Wednesday afternoon on the campus of Pasadena High. (Courtesy of Bayley Neubauer)

A historic season for the Pasadena High girls’ volleyball team included one more achievement Wednesday afternoon.

Bulldogs senior middle blocker Bayley Neubauer joined with friends and family on her Pasadena High campus in signing a national letter of intent with the University of New Orleans, a Division I member of the Southland Conference.

“I’m excited to be signing and to be heading to New Orleans,” said Neubauer, a 17-year-old Altadena resident. “I liked the coaching staff and the people and the area is a lot like SoCal. It’s nice and warm and I’ll enjoy that.”

The 6-foot-4 Neubauer selected New Orleans over Coppin State, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and Cal State Dominguez Hills after she took an official visit to the bayou on April 9.

“The class size is around 30 to 40 people, like at Pasadena, which works for me,” Neubauer said. “I’m also planning on majoring in Sports Management or Kinesiology, which they have offer.”

Neubauer began to garner attention the summer before her senior year, partly because her efforts.

“When I first saw Bayley a couple of years ago, she was really raw,” said Shari Iwatani, who coached Neubauer at both the high school and club level. “I thought she could become something, but she’d have to work and that’s exactly what she did.

“She put in the work during the summer to make herself a better player.”

Neubauer averaged 3.1 kills and 1.5 blocks per game this season for Pasadena in leading the Bulldogs to the postseason for the first time in six years.

Overall, Pasadena finished with a 12-10 record despite coaching issues.

“We had seven coaches this season alone, so it was really different,” Neubauer said. “But we came together as a team and made the playoffs for the first time at Pasadena.”

Neubauer signed with her parents Mindi and Derek Hodges present, along with teammates Alejandra Leon and Mariah Holden.

“Those are the people who supported me,” Neubauer said. “They deserve to be here.”